San Pedro RNCA (House and Trails)
Lower Miller Canyon (driving)
Miller Canyon [Beatty’s Guest Ranch and CAS - Donation $5]
Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary. [Donation $10]
Brown Canyon Ranch
Monday, June 15, 2020
While I own up to being a creature of habit for efficient living, I’ve learned that changing up ordinary routines can add a bit of adrenalin to my birding adventures.
Thus, to avoid our usual overnight motel stay during this Covid-19 pandemic, Hinde Silver and I agreed to depart AJ at 2 a.m. to get to Sierra Vista at a reasonable time for birding. Even though I drove the back way to reach I-10, there was little traffic and we made terrific time due to little if any waiting at traffic lights.
At 5:00 a.m. under a morning sky highlighted by a bright low-hanging crescent moon, we started birding from the parking lot at San Pedro House & Trails. We continued down to the San Pedro River toward the bridge; then out to the mostly dry Kingfisher Pond before turning back. In a bit over two hours, we observed 35 species. Due to the early hour and distance of many of the birds, I held back on photos on the outer trails. The birds featured below were close to the house.
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| GILA WOODPECKER with young male (which it had been feeding). above & below |
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| SUMMER TANAGER |
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| Young CURVE-BILLED THRASHER |
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| Same bird as above showing no fear of me - almost to my feet. Adult was calling to it but it paid no heed and did walk all the way up to me, too close for photo! |
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| BLUE GROSBEAK (M) above & below |
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70494822
Driving up Miller Canyon, we spotted our only SWAINSON'S HAWK of the day, but it was high above, its bi-colored underwing showing the opposite pattern of Turkey Vulture light and dark, with light in front and dark at the rear. Dark chest was also visible.
From the parking lot at Beatty's Guest Ranch, we heard several song birds out and about. This was the only place we really wanted a "target bird" - an Arizona rarity: WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD. [This has been an amazing year for rarities in Arizona; however I haven't chased.). Having seen the WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD before at Beatty's, as soon as we settled ourselves at the Gazebo, I called it immediately. There was our bird, drinking nectar from a feeder. [Life Bird for Hinde]
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| WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD |
The hummingbird feeding station up the hill and across the bridge was humming with activity:
This bird, female BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD, I used to mistake for the as yet unseen WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD. Much easier to see the difference once the rare bird has been observed.
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| BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD (female) |
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| RIVIOLI'S HUMMINGBIRD |
The RIVOLI'S name when I first learned this hummer was "MAGNIFICENT". For this large colorful hummer, I still prefer MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD. Scientifically, the DNA groups it with another species. No matter its name, when its full colors are apparent, it is, indeed, magnificent!
Returning toward the parking lot, we continued to see interesting birds:
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| CANYON TOWHEE |
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| SUMMER TANAGER (male) above and below |
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70495575
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70495788
ASH CANYON BIRD SANCTUARY is a beautiful place with some good rarities if you arrive at dawn or dusk. At almost 10 a.m., we were surprised at the amount of bird activity still going on but none of the "goodies" :(Montezuma or Scaled Quail, nor Lucifer Hummingbird)
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| LESSER GOLDFINCH (male at top; females/young below) |
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| BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (male) |
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| Juvenile Male BLUE GROSBEAK |
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| Adult Male BLUE GROSBEAK |
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70496632
Our next stop was at Mimosa Restaurant where we both ordered our favorite: Margherita Pizza to eat outside. They had just opened the inside but we didn't consider temps in the high 70s as hot and it gave us more space. We birded there, come to think of it, but didn't enter it into eBird. A SAY'S PHOEBE had built a nest on the cover of one of the porch lights attached to the front of the building and was busy bringing food to two young. It looked like she found some good bugs on my car!
Our final stop, Brown Canyon Ranch, was one that is usually an afterthought, but when we have plenty of time, the trail to the south at that location provides some very good birds. This was just a, "Let's stop and see what we find around the ranch house and pond."
With a reputation of surprising us with a good bird (in the past, Cassin's Finch); today, it was a perched and singing CRISSAL THRASHER! Not an easy bird to find but not rare; it's found at some of the recreation areas along the Lower Salt River. It's just more secretive, usually, than the Curve-billed Thrasher. We were thrilled!!
A slightly larger bird than our familiar Curve-billed, this thrasher has a longer thinner curved bill than the Curve-billed's heavy bill. Its under-tail coverts, not easily seen here, are very dark, almost a mahogany color as opposed to the lighter UTC of the Curve-billed.
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| CRISSAL THRASHER - two birds above |
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S70496929N
It had clouded up at bit at Brown Canyon Ranch, so I commented as we headed out for Apache Junction that it was one of the few times I'd visited Sierra Vista with no rain interruptions. About two miles later, we were in heavy rain!! Once we left town, it slowed and then stopped. The mountains must bring the rain. Cochise County probably has the best record in the state for its Covid-19 control (468 cases; 6 deaths).
When you check these bird observations in eBird, you'll also see some of Hinde's photos.
59 species from 5 sites
Our time birding in the field: 8 hours
Driving out and back: 6 hours.
We were gone from 2 a.m. 'til 4 p.m. = a good 14-hour birding day!
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Sounds like a perfect day out! Rain....what a dream!
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